Let It Snow
by Stina58
Summary: It is often holiday's that bring family and friends together. During the war, three naive seventh year students learn this lesson for themselves before leaving the world they know behind.
1. All Thanks to Letters

"All Thanks to Letters"

It wasn't until I was halfway there that I realized that leaving wasn't a good idea. In my defense, it didn't look like it was snowing that hard from the library.

I could just blame Charlie.

If my brother hadn't sent me that letter, I wouldn't have had to respond to him! I could've gotten to the library on time, and to Hogsmeade a lot faster.

However, that letter _was_ important. In the next couple days, I have to decide if I stay here or go home for Christmas. I was initially planning to go home, but then Charlie's letter came. He warned me that Great-grandmother Edith will be at our home for Christmas this year. Most people enjoy having their grandmothers and great-grandmothers come round for Christmas. Most people don't have Great-grandmother Edith. She's the type of woman that believes that all girls should wear pink frocks and all boys should have hair shorter than their ears. She's the type of woman that feels the need to approve or disapprove of a child's name. Especially if that child is in our family. She's the reason my name is Laura- because she disapproved of any other ideas that my parents had.

So, knowing that she wasn't dead yet and was going to my house for Christmas, meant that I was staying at Hogwarts.

After replying to Charlie, I headed to the library. Professor Sinistra, who began teaching during my fourth year, was known for coming up with interesting essay topics (her predecessor, Professor Leran, was known for coming up with horrible ones). Today, however, I didn't feel like writing about the full moon and its environmental impacts. So I gave it up as a "Sunday essay," as Sirius Black would say (meaning, procrastinate until eight hours before it was due), and headed for Hogsmeade.

That was a stupid idea.

My brunette hair flew everywhere and pieces stuck to my freezing, wet face. Snow flew everywhere and it was hard to make out five metres in front of me.

I soldiered on. I was probably a little more than halfway to Hogsmeade, and since the wind and snow both blew vertically, it didn't matter which direction I went. I might as well make the trip worth it and get some hot chocolate from Honeydukes.

I walked on for another five minutes before I veered too far to the right and sank my foot in a snow bank. It was cold and as I tried to unstick myself, I could feel my trainer absorbing wetness. I moaned. Getting frostbite was not on my list of things to do today.

"Are you all right?" A male's voice called from behind me. I turned to see a tall bloke with a shock of ginger hair staring at me.

"Yeah," I replied and heaved my foot out of the snow.

The bloke, I realized, was a Ravenclaw in my year. He was staring at me too, recognition, but not quite identity, in his eyes.

"I'm David Lewis," He yelled over the wind. "You're a Gryffindor!"

"Yes. My name is Laura. Laura Adley," I responded. "You're a Ravenclaw."

He nodded, squinting at me due to the flying bits of frigid white.

"Hogsmeade's not that far," He shouted. "We're close."

I nodded and took a step, only to find my foot sink in again, this time to my knee.

"Here!" David called and grabbed my hand. My stomach clenched as he hauled me to the trampled snow path.

"We need to hurry," And I hoped to Merlin that he took my stuttering as a result of the chilly wind, not the fact that he still had my hand. "The path is getting deeper!"

He nodded and we started stumbling towards Hogsmeade.

"We're idiots," He told me after a couple minutes.

"Says the Ravenclaw," I snapped, irritated by his use of the plural.

David grinned. "And to think all I want to do is send a parcel. I should've waited until term ends and send it when I get home."

"Why don't you use a school owl?" I asked curiously. Surely that would work fine, I thought.

"International," he replied. "My sister's in Japan for her job. I wanted to send Dorrie her present on time."

David and his sister Dorrie. David and Dorrie Lewis. I bet his older sister is Dorothy Lewis, a Gryffindor who left school when we were second years.

"Better reason than mine!" I told him. "I'm just procrastinating. I don't want to do my astronomy essay," I admitted.

It felt weird admitting this to a Ravenclaw. Cathy always jokes that they have a bloody perfect work ethic.

"But what would you know?" I muttered under my breath to an invisible and completely imaginary Cathy. "You dated a Hufflepuff."

"What was that?' David asked.

"Nothing!" I replied, feeling blood rush to my cheeks. Good thing they're probably already red.

"Anyway, I know about that essay. I saw Lupin writing it in the library yesterday," David continued.

Ah. Remus Lupin. Gryffindor's resident male "should've been a Ravenclaw" as Marlene McKinnon used to say.

"Mmm," I grunted noncommittally. I nodded at the parcel in his hand. "I should send my brother and parents one too. I...I'm not going home for Christmas."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because of my Great-grandmother Edith."

I launched into my tirade about her and told David more than I probably should. It felt nice, though, to let it out. I never realized how angry and annoyed I was.

By the time we reached Hogsmeade's High Street, we were both soaked to the skin. We walked up to the Post Office and opened the door. Immediately, warmth welcomed us as we stepped in. The owls looked at us on their high wooden perches and a couple young children sitting on high backed chairs in the corner laughed at our joyful expressions.

David grinned, looked at me, and held up the parcel. "Dorrie better be grateful for this."

I laughed and he joined me.

He began to walk towards the clerk and I let my thoughts wander to Honeydukes. I had just decided to stay here a little bit longer to warm up when David turned around.

"Hey Laura," He suddenly sounded nervous. "Do you want to get a drink at the Three Broomsticks with me?"

I stared for a second as his question filtered through my defrosting brain.

"Sure," I told him and smiled.

He smiled back.


	2. Mistletoe Misdemeanor

**"**Mistletoe Misdemeanor"

I stared out over the customers of the Three Broomsticks and held my head high.

I _always_ held my head high. I am Isaiah Gladenly, son of Elijah and Marian Gladenly. I am a Pureblood- the right kind, mind you, not like the Slytherin gits- and am proud of it.

So when _she_ came in, I continued to hold my head high. I, after all, did nothing wrong.

She was a half blood, daughter of a witch and a muggle. We met when we were younger, and I immediately deemed that she needed the guidance of a pureblood to help her adjust to proper wizard culture. We became friends; regardless of my status as a Hufflepuff and her's as a Gryffindor, which meant that we had no classes together. It was proper to have friends from other houses, after all. I met her friends, a pureblood (Mary Macdonald), a half blood (Annette Murray), and two muggleborns (Lily Evans and Laura Adley). After initially trying to help Annette, Lily, and Laura, I decided to stop. Whenever I offered knowledge that only a pureblood like myself would know, Laura would raise an eyebrow and Annette would look away. Lily always seemed to be irritated with me, and she only seemed to tolerate me because I was _her_ friend.

But then friendship turned to more.

I looked across at my ex-girlfriend and grew angry that she did not look at me. She was walking over to the table set for five, where Lily Evans and James Potter already sat.

"Hey Cathy!" Lily called and waved.

Cathy. I always thought that was ridiculous. Her name is not Cathy. Her proper name is Catherine, but only I seemed to call her that. She should be proud of her name; it was, after all, the name her parents gave her.

Catherine Mary White.

I missed being able to call her that. I missed being able to kiss her when she would roll her eyes.

This predicament was NOT my fault. It was her own.

She should've been more careful; thoughtful. Hogwarts was a mistletoe breeding ground during the Yuletide season. I'm careful to avoid them (unless I'm alone with her. Private matters are private.)

She was not that careful.

Peter Pettigrew.

Out of all the bloke's at Hogwarts, it had to be the lumpy, short half blood who caused trouble, and had watery eyes.

She should've been more careful.

Catherine got stuck under an enchanted mistletoe with Peter Pettigrew and had to kiss him to escape.

Catherine Mary White cheated me, Isaiah Richard Gladenly.

I am a gentleman, however, even if she wasn't ready to play the role of a lady faithful to her man. So I told her it was over with as much courtesy as I could. My only hint of shame towards the gesture was that I acted the coward. I could not see her expression; it would be too painful. I turned and walked away.

I could very well see her expression now. Her lips were moving and then she smiled as Lily Evans responded to whatever she had said. My best guess was that Catherine was wondering where Laura and Annette were; they were nowhere to be seen.

But then Catherine turned around and noticed me staring at her.

The smile slipped from her face. It was replaced by a flash of pain before turning neutral and apathetic.

She turned, said something to Lily Evans, and began to walk towards the back.

I was halfway out of my chair before I comprehended what I was doing.

_No_, I sternly told myself.

Myself, obviously, didn't agree.

I followed her and met her in the back hallway that led towards the loos.

"Hello," I said, trying to sound polite rather than bitter.

She looked at me and asked quietly, "What do you want?"

I hesitated. "To see how you're doing."

"'How I'm doing'?" she repeated. Her eyes flashed. "Honestly?!"

_Yes_, I wanted to tell her. I missed her.

She took a step backwards and I took one forwards. She tried to distance herself farther from me; I tried to close the gap. However, we both discovered that neither of us could move. I looked around, trying to find the perpetrator. I was a Prefect- someone couldn't do this to me...

"Bugger."

Catherine's voice was loud. I turned to see her looking up.

Damn.

An innocent looking piece of mistletoe hung from the ceiling above our heads.

We looked at each other. Dread filled my gut. Catherine folded her arms together across her chest and leaned backwards.

"There's _no_ way that I'm kissing you."

Her words were layered with emotion. Defiance, anger, indignation. I wanted to grab her and take away her pain. But that right was no longer mine. She should've been more careful.

"I don't want to kiss you, either," I told her loudly. Realizing that I was looking at my feet, I raised my head proudly.

She did too. Bloody Gryffindors. Think they're completely invincible.

"Good," she said, extremely angry. "I never liked kissing you."

I knew she was trying to anger me; to make me do something irrational. She wasn't going to anger me; it was her own anger talking now. Well, I wasn't going to give into emotion like she was. I am Isaiah Gladenly, a well raised adult, and would act like one.

"I guessed that's why you kissed Pettigrew then," I told her cooly. "Because you had to see if he was better."

I mentally flinched. These words sounded more childish said out loud than they had in my head. Her head shot up, probably wrenching her neck. Her eyes narrowed to infinitesimal slits.

"Do you _still_ think I wanted to kiss him?!" she exclaimed.

"You should've been more careful," I fired back.

"Careful?" she mocked. "Just like how our _carefulness_ got us into this situation!" Catherine pointed at the mistletoe above our heads.

I stared at her as those words pierced me. She used the word "carefulness" with such sarcasm that there was no guessing that she meant the opposite. Carelessness. No. I am Isaiah Gladenly, and carelessness did not go with how I was brought up. My chest felt heavy. She was right; I had been careless for once. My cheeks felt warm.

She wore a rather triumphant expression as she watched me.

"Catherine..."I murmured. One second of carelessness...I had been wrong. I deflated a bit. "I'm...I'm sorry."

She beamed at me, leaned forward, and whispered, "Isaiah. Mistletoe, remember?"

I grinned and leaned forward.

* * *

Author's Note:

I have always thought that with the anti-muggleborn prejudice, there would also be the opposite prejudice (where they are proud to befriend muggleborns, but still end up acting somewhat prejudice). Isaiah is the perfect example of this. He's also pompous and supposed to irritate you. The whole point of Catherine's character is that she rounds him out a bit.


	3. A Nice Gesture

"A Nice Gesture"

The nice thing about Lily was that she only talked when necessary.

She, like me, enjoyed the quiet shelves filled with so much knowledge, so many stories.

People undervalue the beauty of books.

That's imprecise.

"Some people" would be a better fit. If all people were included, then Lily and I wouldn't be counted as people and book shops would never had existed.

There would still be stories, however. Humans couldn't always write; stories and information traveled orally.

We were in the children's section, looking for a book to give to my little cousin Abby. Children ran around us, oohing and ahhing at the picture books. They were a colorful group. There was a blonde girl with a candy striped hat and a boy with a loud green and red scarf. I enjoyed their colors.

"What's this?" Lily asked, holding up a book called _Toadstool Tales_.

"Don't read that rubbish," I told her. "It's a revised _Tales of Beedle the Bard_."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Fairy tales," I clarified for her. "That book will make you vomit."

She looked startled, opened to a random page, read a paragraph, and pulled a face at me. I laughed.

I dislike people who take stories and destroy them. They are, after all, told the way they are for a reason.

"Why do you have that?" An indignant voice proclaimed from behind me.

James Potter stood there, staring at the book in his girlfriend's hands like it was going to bite him. Some books do bite, I reminded myself. That's why they're in the Restricted Section. Maybe that book _has_ bitten him. If any a book deserves to be in the Restricted Section, it's that one.

"You're going to make all the children sick, just by showing them the cover!" James exclaimed, sweeping his hand to gesture towards the children.

"Had personal experience with this book?" Lily asked, amused.

"Once," James muttered. "Never again."

Lily and I laughed.

James looked at me. "Hi, Annie."

I smiled at him. He always said hi to me. It was nice that he said hi. Isaiah, who dated Cathy for a while, never said hi.

"Would you mind if I stole Lily?" he asked me. That was also nice; James asked my opinion.

"No," I answered truthfully. "I don't mind."

"Where are we going?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow. Evidently, she minded.

"Three Broomsticks," he responded. He paused before turning to me. "Would you like to join us, Annie?"

"In a little bit," I promised him. "I have to pick out a book for Abby yet. I'll meet you there."

They both grinned at me, grabbed each others hands, and walked away.

I turned back to the colorful shelves. I wished that they would carry Muggle novels- something different for an eight year old to read. Her parents didn't do much in the Muggle world, so Abby didn't know about it. I don't know why people do that- the Muggle world is full of its own magic.

I turned around to head to the Three Broomsticks after deciding to get a book in the Muggle world. Unfortunately, my robes previously belonged to my older sister Allison, and my feet caught the hem.

I wonder why sisters that are nine and a half months apart are so different in height.

I fell right into a pile of precariously stacked books, which toppled right over with me.

Maybe, I thought when I stopped falling, that is the purpose of the Muggle nursery rhyme that Mum used to sing to me...London bridges falling down, falling down...

"Are you all right?"

I looked up. A young man stood over me, auburn hair in his eyes, squashed under a canary yellow hat, so that only little ringlets escaped. He's tall and instantly, I recognize him.

He's in my year and friends with Isaiah Gladenly. He's a Hufflepuff too, but is quiet, unlike Isaiah. Though, it seems like all Hufflepuff's are quiet.

In comparison to Isaiah Gladenly, at least.

"I'm fine," I told him. "Just tripped over my robes."

He smiled and offered me his mittened hand. I grasped it and he gently pulled me up before leaning down to gather some of the fallen books.

"You don't have to do that."

As nice a gesture as it is, I made the mess.

He smiled again and said, "It's okay. I'll help."

I leaned down too and grabbed a couple books.

"My name is Annette Murray," I said. I feel like that's important for him to know.

"Jacob Branstone," he replied. "Don't most people call you something else, though?"

He paused, considering. I let him.

"Annie!" He exclaimed suddenly. I nodded.

"Shouldn't you be with Isaiah?" I asked, curious. Very rarely had I seen Jacob alone.

He rolled his eyes. "I should be," He admitted. "But Isaiah has been miserable since him and Cathy split. He's just being dramatic."

I nodded in sympathy. "Cathy's been angry, too."

Jacob chuckled. "Match made in Heaven, that one."

I laughed too and enjoyed listening to our laughter mix in the air.

"I have to go to the Three Broomsticks," I told him sadly. I did not want to leave his company. "I'm going to meet Lily and James."

"Potter and Evans?" He clarified.

I nodded. Everyone always seems to call them that. I wonder why.

"Would you care if I joined you?" He asked. "Isaiah's there too and I shouldn't let him brood."

"He might not be," I warned him. "Cathy's there, too."

Jacob's laugh was almost sinister.

We left Tomes and Scrolls bookshop and began the trek back to the inn. The heavily falling snow caused my blonde hair to fly everywhere and soon it simply hung, too heavy with wet snow.

Really, the whole issue between Cathy and Isaiah was ridiculous. Caught under a mistletoe with no choice. Besides, a kiss only matters in that way if passion is involved. And having actually seen that kiss for myself, I knew that there was nothing other than embarrassment in the air. I wonder what would happen if siblings got stuck under an enchanted mistletoe...

We entered the inn, shaking snow off of us. Jacob froze, seeming startled, eyes wide.

I looked where he looked. James and Lily sat next to Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Cathy, Isaiah Gladenly, Laura, and another ginger haired boy. James's arm was around Lily and they were both laughing at something Sirius said. Remus and Peter were laughing too. Cathy held Isaiah's hand and smiled broadly. Laura shyly looked at the boy. A Ravenclaw, I think.

"Well," Jacob muttered. "Who'd have thought we'd walk in to see so many happy couples." His eyes lingered in astonishment at Cathy and Isaiah.

Suddenly, I felt a mittened hand enclose mine. It was a nice and comforting gesture.

I followed Jacob as we walked to join our friends.


End file.
